Made these in a jiffy tonight with the kids. Just find some medical tape or white electrical tape, some googly eyes (craft store or eye ball stickers work too) and a hole puncher. Punch a hole in a piece of tape to put over the top of the juice box so your child has a place to stick their straw eventually. Wrap the tape around the juice box in all kinds of directions to give it a mummified feel. Add eyes.. and create a brow by placing another piece of the tape diagnolly across the top of the eyes. Tape the straw back on the side of the box.. and you got MUMMY JUICE!

The treat cups are so easy. Get orange cups and black paper. Cut out eyes, nose and mouth. Glue it all on and fill with whatever you got! ENJOY this Halloween Eve and happy Trick or Treating!

You guys know how much I’m into traditions and creating new ones! Well how excited I was to learn about a really cool mom, Julie Mudrick from Vienna. All month she’s been dressing up in homemade costumes and surprising everyone when she picks them up from the bus stop! The whole crew on wheels gets a kick out of it. It’s something she started 3 years ago when her son expressed was worried about what others thought of him. Her response was to dress up and show him that it’s ok to stand out, be goofy, fun and above all imperfect. This year her oldest daughter who is in middle school decided to join in on the fun! You can find more of her costumes on facebook and instagram using #BusStopCostumes.

I have no clue what Julie will show up as tomorrow… but I know one thing for sure: Regardless of the wig, cape or makeup she throws on.. this mom is downright SUPER!

My daughter and I decided to create a graveyard cake the week before Halloween. We are chocolate lovers but you can make this cake with any cake mix.

We used an organic chocolate mix from Whole Foods. I whipped the frosting together but you can use any frosting as long as it’s darker. Give the kiddos the task to crush the chocolate cookies (oreos work well). Another good job for them is breaking pretzel sticks in half to make the pathway. Adora loved sticking the Ghost Peeps on lollipop sticks too. The tombstones are made from milano cookies that we just decorated. Frost the cake, sprinkle the cookie crumbs on and the green sprinkles where you want grass. We put extra cookie crumbs on the path to make it look more like a dirt road.

When I called on my friends on Facebook for an easy chili recipe I could do in the crockpot I got 95amazing answers! One of them came from my mother-in-law. She sent a SUPER easy recipe where everything is in twos. I tried it and happy to report there wasn’t a bowl left! I also took it upon myself to try to make a Mummified Candy Corn Cake. Below is how it turned out along with the recipe which has a few steps but was easy to follow. Why the cooking and baking? It was part of our Family Fun Day we were planning! It included making our own campfire, smores mix , games and wrapping up with a classic- The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

Preparation1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 3 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment; mist again with cooking spray.2. Make batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Combine milk and vanilla in a measuring cup. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl.3. Reduce speed to low and alternate adding flour and milk mixtures to butter (begin and end with flour), until just combined. In a clean medium bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg whites into batter in 3 additions.4. Create layers: Divide batter in 3 medium bowls (2 cups each). Add 1 1/2 tsp. yellow coloring to 1 bowl; stir. Add red coloring and 1 tsp. yellow coloring to second bowl; stir. Leave third bowl white. Spread batter into pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove to rack to cool completely.5. Level tops of cake layers with a serrated knife, if necessary. Dab small amount of frosting in center of cake stand and top with orange layer. Spread 1 cup frosting on top; add yellow layer and align sides. Spread 1 cup frosting over yellow layer, then top with white layer and align. Spread remaining frosting around sides, then over top. Smooth with a knife or spatula.6. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave marshmallows on high for 30 seconds. I found I didn’t need the whole bag.. but it’s up to you! Stir until smooth and just warm to the touch. Pull off a piece about the size of 1 marshmallow and stretch between thumb and forefinger of both hands until thin. Drape strand over and around cake. Repeat until you reach desired “mummy” effect. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.7. Toppers: I used cake pop sticks and pre cut paper bats to make the topper!

Look what’s back! That cool house in Leesburg Virginia that puts on a spectacular Halloween light show every year. Last year the video went viral with it’s spooky take on “What Does the Fox Say.” What made this year’s play list? Well click below or venture out to 1826 Woods Edge Drive Leesburg VA 20176 to see it for yourself. Remember you must tune your radio into 98.1FM to hear it from your car. It runs on a loop from 7pm-9pm until Halloween Eve!

So this is how we roll. Sushi, California Roll, Sushi Chef and the all important Soy Sauce. We had such a great time at a neighborhood block party before Adora ventured out for her first trick or treat experience. She did very well… but ended up with no candy. She’s in a big sharing phase and literally gave all her candy away to other kids. Piece by piece I watched (my future reese’s) drop into other pails. In the end it was indeed a very sweet holiday in many ways.